Some commonly available battery chargers for portable devices such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the like, include a dual mode operation, where the charger may provide a voltage source for a load (cellular phone, PDA, and the like) or charge the battery. Conventional linear battery chargers typically provide continuous stable current to both battery and load. Such battery chargers typically include a switch controlled by an external signal for switching between supplying the load and charging the battery.
A common problem with these battery chargers is that the load may be subjected to excess current and damaged, if the battery is inadvertently disconnected while being charged. This problem may be an issue not only during operation, but also during production testing, when batteries may be inserted and removed for the first time.
Thus, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.